Dissociation
by Austinwoods
Summary: When the Death Star attacks Scarif, Jyn refuses to stop fighting. She and Cassian make a desperate escape attempt, but not everything goes to plan...
1. Scarif

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

 **Dissociation**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Scarif**

Jyn leaned on Cassian, and he against her. The turbolift was a hundred paces behind them when a flash brighter than any sunrise light the horizon. Within moments, Scarif's surface began to peel back as the shockwave of the Death Star's blast expanded. Just like on Jedha, only this time there would be no daring escape.

They were finished, both of them. They had given everything they had to the Rebellion. The plans were sent. There was nothing left for them to do, other than meet their fate. The beach ahead of them was as good a place as any. Jyn had never seen a beach before. Not on Coruscant in her youth, or on any of the planets between then and now. With the fighters in the sky breaking off their dogfights to make a hasty exit, and the fighting on the ground finished, it seemed peaceful, almost welcoming.

A shout from the right caught Jyn's attention. An imperial officer there was directing men into a shuttle, frantically trying to evacuate before they were destroyed. Destroyed by her father's creation, as she soon would be. Ironic.

 _Whatever I do, I do it to protect you_. Her father had said that to her once, right before Krennic had come for them. Galen Erso wouldn't have wanted his work to be what killed his daughter. Jyn was sure of that.

The Empire had taken everything from her eventually. Her mother, her father, Saw, not to mention any semblance of normalcy. Now all that was left for them to take was her life, but a stubborn voice inside of her—her mother's, perhaps—protested. Had she really come this far to just give up now?

For the first time since she had sent the signal to the Rebellion Fleet, Jyn began to hope again—hope that she might survive.

"Cassian," she whispered.

"What?" he answered back. He sounded bad. That fall had done a lot of damage. Even if the two of them escaped, there was no guarantee he would make it…

"We've got to get out of here," she told him.

He turned his head slightly and wearily caught her eye. "Now's really not a good time."

She almost laughed, because she felt the same way. After everything they had been through, lying down and letting it end sounded wonderfully appealing… but some part of her protested. Chirrut had never given up. Even two decades after the Empire had purged all memory of the Jedi, he remained a guardian of their holy temple. Baze, for all of his protestations, had stayed as well. If the two of them had continued to defy the Empire, then so could she.

"I'm serious. We've got to go," Jyn said.

"How?" Cassian asked.

Fair question. Bodhi hadn't answered their comms in the elevator, and they both expected the worst. Jyn looked around again, and her gaze stuck on the evacuating Imperial officers. Past a stripe of foliage, she could see a steady line of Imperials streaming from the Citadel Tower. They moved quickly, but orderly, with classic Imperial precision. The only other ships that Jyn could see around them were either already airborne or smoldering wrecks on the beach. There was only one way out of here…

 _You know wh_ _ere to go_ _,_ her mother said. And Jyn realized that she did. The timing would have to be perfect, and they would have to hope that the Imperials weren't paying close attention, but with the planet literally being ripped apart around them, that seemed like a safe bet.

"Come on," Jyn said, changing their course away from the beach and toward the landing pad in the tower's shadow.

Cassian grunted in pain as she quickened their pace, but he kept up with her. The sand beneath their feet kept giving way, forcing the two of them to move at an awkward jog exacerbated by their injuries. TIE fighters screamed at them as they passed overhead, and Jyn ducked instinctively as they crashed into the foliage, pulling Cassian along with her. She could feel him sagging as they picked there way through the shoot of woods that separated them from the rear of the landing pad.

"Just a little further," she said, not certain which of them she was reassuring

He grunted something in response, but she didn't catch it. There was a dull roar coming from the ocean that was growing louder every second. Unlike on Jedha, she couldn't see the growing wave of destruction approaching. Somehow that made things even worse.

One more stumble over the roots of a large tree and they were at one of the durasteel barriers that demarcated the landing pad. Jyn peeked around the edge and saw that the stream of Imperials was petering out. The officer waving people on looked in Jyn's direction, but not at her, over the treeline. Whatever he saw there was enough to make him pick up his urgency. He banged on the underside of the shuttle and shouted something into a comlink.

Jyn turned to find Cassian sitting with his back to the barrier. He looked at her without turning his head.

"The ground's shaking. Did you notice?"

She had. The tropical forest was starting to collapse behind them too. There were sharp cracks of splitting wood echoing around them. A gnarled tree that looked decades old twisted awkwardly and fell away from them, taking down two of its smaller neighbors on the way to the ground.

"Yeah, like I said, we've got to go. Come on." Jyn grabbed Cassian by the arm and pulled him to his feet. He winced, but didn't complain. "That's our ride out," she said, pointing around the barrier.

"Tell me you're joking," Cassian said.

"Got a better idea?" she countered. When he didn't voice any she continued. "When they take off, we sneak onto the landing gear. It's standard Imperial design for the gear to retract into the cargo hold." Or at least, she was pretty sure it was. "If all goes well, we end up with a free ride out of here."

"And if it doesn't?"

"We get crushed, fall to our deaths, or suffocate in a vacuum. Take your pick."

"I'll go with 'all goes well,'" he replied.

"Good."

Anything else Jyn was going to say was drowned out by the shuttle's engines firing.

"Let's go!" Cassian shouted over the roar with surprising vigor. He crouched low and moved past her around the barrier, pushing off of it as though giving himself the last burst of strength he needed. She was right behind him. No time for second guessing now.

The boarding ramp of the shuttle was retracting into the body of the craft. Cassian shuffled forward under the side of the shuttle. He passed by the nearest landing leg, leaving it for Jyn, and practically collapsed against the further one. She ran after him and wrapped her arms around the landing strut nearest the trees. She found a hydralic line on the other side to use as a handhold, then held on as the shuttle's repulsorlifts fired and it rose off the landing pad.

The minute it was over the trees, Jyn could see the planet's crust rising out of the ocean as the shockwave of the Death Star's attack marched toward them. Behind it was a ball of fire so bright that she had to avert her eyes. The wind whipped through her hair, merging with the roaring of the planet beginning to shatter. Jyn squeezed her eyes shut and clung to the landing gear as hard as she could while the shuttle climbed higher and higher.

Suddenly, the sound around her was shut off. Jyn opened her eyes to darkness. She tried to move around and found that there was hardly any space around her.

She cursed. The shuttle had a small separate hold for each of its landing struts. There would be no way to access the primary cargo hold from inside, and even if there was, the chances of her finding her way out in the dark with hardly any room to move were slim.

Cassian had likely discovered the same thing, assuming he hadn't been crushed by some awkward angle when the strut retracted.

A bang broke through Jyn's thoughts as she felt the ship buck. There was a building vibration, and the sound of something smacking at the outer hull. For a tense moment, Jyn thought that their escape was about to be cut abruptly short, then the vibration ceased and the shuttle flew freely.

Above her, in what she assumed must be the main cargo hold, Jyn could hear the pounding of dozens of footfalls. It sounded like the entire staff of the Citadel Tower had been loaded onto the shuttle. In that case, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that they hadn't been lifted directly into the hold. She didn't fancy finding herself back in Imperial captivity, especially after what the Alliance had just pulled.

The question of what would happen once they reached the shuttle's destination crossed Jyn's mind, but there was a far more pressing problem than that.

The shuttle was likely going to rendezvous with a larger ship, a destroyer or a frigate. What exactly were they supposed to do if the pilot lowered the landing struts _before_ they were inside of the hangar's mag-barrier? It was Imperial regulation to not lower the landing struts until you were inside the hangar… at least Jyn was pretty sure it was, and her current predicament was evidence that she didn't exactly know Imperial regulations front-to-back.

She gripped the kyber crystal around her neck. Somehow it had survived through the battle on the surface. Chirrut seemed to think that it had some sort of power—a connection to the Force maybe. Jyn didn't know if she believed that, but if there was any luck, or Force, or whatever, left in it, she and Cassian were going to need it.

A few long minutes later, Jyn felt a shift in the shuttle's engines, like they were coming in for a final approach. Gears began shifting around her, and a cool blast of air hit her as the compartment door under her opened. For some reason she held her breath, as though that would help against the vacuum of space, but as the strut lowered, she saw a dark hangar floor, not a field of stars.

To her left, Cassian looked like he was barely hanging on as the stuts hit the ground. The instant they did, he collapsed, head lolling back and arms limp.

"Cassian!" Jyn yelled before she could stop herself. She clanked across the dark metal floor and fell to her knees next to her lifeless body.

Somewhere behind her, maintenance crew members were calling for security, but she didn't care. Two fingers on Cassian's throat found a pulse, but it was weak and inconsistent.

"Cassian, get up!" she said, shaking his shoulders.

He didn't respond.

She turned around, and found half of the hangar's crew staring at her. She instinctively reached for her blaster, but it was gone, destroyed along with K2 on Scarif. That left her empty-handed, surrounded by Imperials, with a squad of stormtroopers pushing through the crowd to bear down on her. If K2 were there, he probably would have assessed the situation as "very bad".

"Freeze!" one of the stormtroopers said.

He must have been the commander, because the rest took positions to support him. These were no lax local police on some backwater planet. Their formation was perfect—reminiscent of Krennic's Death Troopers. She wouldn't make it two steps before one of them dropped her, and even if she did, there was nowhere to go.

They were completely outmatched, she had no blaster, Cassian was unconscious and fading. So Jyn did the only thing she could think of.

"Help us!"


	2. Imperial Entanglements

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Chapter 2

Imperial Entanglements

"Where is the Rebel base?" the interrogator asked Jyn for the umpteenth time.

"I don't know," she said. "I told you, I'm not even part of the Rebellion."

Behind the blinding light in her face, she heard the interrogator laugh. He was from Coruscant, and his refined accent put hers to shame. Even his laugh was clipped and formal. His style of questioning followed suit. Everything he asked was systematic, and everything Jyn said was recalled with perfect accuracy. The faceless Imperial had endlessly gone through her story, prodding every inconsistency, picking at every loose thread. Already, he had caught her in three different lies.

As far as Jyn was concerned, he could spend as much time as he wanted asking her questions. She wasn't going to betray the Alliance, and thus far the questioning had remained… uncomfortable rather than painful. She knew from the muffled screams behind closed doors between her cell and this interrogation chamber that things could be far worse. As long as she was in here talking to the prim eidetic, she wasn't in one of those other rooms.

Of course, a week of interrogation was pretty far down on Jyn's list of fun ideas, but at least the Imperials had given her and Cassian medical attention. When they escaped from Scarif, she was worried that he might not make it, but within two days he was out of the medbay and in the brig with her.

"I think that will be enough for today," the silhouette said. "Take her," he commanded the guards.

She closed her eyes and allowed the stormtroopers to unshackle her from the interrogation slab without protest. With one of them on either side, she was led out of the chamber and down the corridor. A right turn later, they had arrived at Jyn's cell block. The design on the ship was so _Imperial_ and standardized that all the corridors looked the same; only the reinforced durasteel doors on this one betrayed its true use.

"Get in," one of the stormtroopers said curtly after opening the door.

Jyn complied, but the other one gave her a shove in the back anyway. She stumbled but caught herself before she hit the ground. It wasn't the first time she'd been shoved into a cell.

The door hissed shut behind her, and Jyn was alone… almost.

"How did it go?" Cassian asked. He was lying on one of the two small metal cots that the Imperials had provided for sleeping. One arm was covering his eyes, as though warding off a headache. Jyn guessed that his own interrogation had ended just a short time before.

"Great. I think I'm finally starting to break through his shell. Maybe soon I'll get to know the real him." Jyn responded. She sat down on her bed, on the opposite wall from his. It was only slightly bigger than her accommodations had been on Wobani, but at least the company was better. "You?"

"Well, I got them to start hitting me today," he let the arm fall away from his head, and Jyn could see dark bruises around his eyes, even in the dim light of their cell. "I guess that's progress of some kind."

Jyn drew in a breath between her teeth. "Are you alright?" She knew it was a stupid question, of course he wasn't, but she asked anyway.

"Yeah," he answered. "Thanks."

There was a silence between them. Jyn wasn't sure how long it lasted, or even what time it was. The Imperials kept the lighting at a constant dim level, and she had lost track of shift changes hours ago, so she had no way of ever knowing. At first that had bothered her, and despair had begun to creep in. But then they had thrown Cassian in here with her.

 _The door opened, and Jyn sat up quickly. The light from outside was blocked by someone getting shoved inside._

 _"Cassian?" she asked, jumping off her bed to help him up as the door slid shut._

 _"Thanks," he replied. Abruptly, he reached out and wrapped her in a tight hug, almost squeezing the breath out of her. Her confusion lasted only a moment before he whispered in her ear. "They're listening to everything we say. They put us together hoping we would start talking about the Alliance. Don't say anything you don't want them to hear."_

 _He released her, then sat down. He gave her a smile that became a grimace as he gripped his side. The Imperials hadn't been able to fix everything, apparently._

 _"By the way, it's good to see you again."_

Since then, it had been easier to pass the time, but there was always the added element of restraint that wasn't present before. Jyn was forced to consider everything she said carefully, lest she accidentally let something slip. Not that she knew much about the Alliance anyway.

Cassian didn't have any problem keeping up with the shift changes. According to him, they'd been here a week, or close to it. He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been in the medbay. The day before, Cassian had predicted that the Imperials would start changing their tactics. It looked like was been right.

"Why did they beat you and not me?" Jyn asked finally.

"I don't know. Maybe they're trying to rattle you first." Cassian lied back down and covered his face with an arm again. "I'll trade if you want."

She would, but in all likelihood, it would be her turn soon enough anyway.

"Cassian?"

"Hmm?"

"Where are you from?" She doubted that he would tell her the truth—especially if the cell was bugged—but talking helped.

"You haven't heard of it," he said simply.

"Try me."

He took a deep breath and blew it out. "It's a planet called Fest. Somewhere on the outer rim. Nobody cared about it until the Separatists needed it as a foothold. Then everyone cared."

He was right, she had never heard of it. "What's it like?"

"Cratered." Cassian said. Jyn thought he was going to leave it at that, but then he spoke again. "Where I lived, we were outside of the major cities. Like I said, no one really cared about it, so there was still a lot of wilderness."

"Wilderness, like forests?"

"Mountains," he said. "We had plenty of trees though."

If this was all an act, then it was certainly convincing. Cassian's voice was detached, but there was no missing the hint of longing in it.

"There were mountains where I grew up too," Jyn said.

"I thought you grew up on Coruscant."

"I wasn't rooted to the spot," she replied. She had almost mentioned her father fleeing the Empire, but as far as she knew, the Imperials were ignorant to her true identity. Although with her father and Krennic both dead, she wondered if anyone would even care anymore. "We had mountains, but I never got to see them. Not up close anyway" She hadn't gotten to see much of anything except their farm, but she had found plenty of trouble to get in there. "What about your family? What were they like?"

"I think…" there was a moment of silence. "I think I would prefer not to talk about that. Not in here, anyway." His tone was flat, but he offered a reassuring smile.

"Oh."

"But thanks for asking."

There was another silence. Sometimes it seemed like Cassian would prefer not to speak at all, but others, after she finished telling a story or made a joke, she would look over and find him smiling. She understood. It was relieving to be able to connect with someone, anyone, even if it might only be for a brief time. Plus she found the idea of some Imperial tech listening to her and Cassian's pointless conversations amusing.

A sudden thought occurred to Jyn.

"Does anyone ever call you 'Cass'?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"…No… please don't be the first," he said.

She smiled. "Whatever you say. No one ever gave you a nickname when you were a child?"

Cassian rolled over to face away from her. His voice bounced off of the far wall and took on a strange hollow quality.

"When I first joined the Alliance, I had a friend who called me 'Assian'."

She almost did a double-take.

"Assian?"

"His idea of a joke. Fortunately, it didn't stick. I _did_ have to threaten to reprogram Kay again once he caught wind of it."

Jyn tried to suppress her laughter, but it escaped anyway. Once she had started, it became difficult for her to stop until finally she was practically howling.

"I'm glad that you're so amused," Cassian deadpanned.

"Sorry," Jyn said, still shaking with laughter. "It's just that… I don't know. We're in here, and we've pretty much been fearing for our lives ever since we met, so…" She didn't know how to explain it, but it was like the floodgates had opened.

"No, that's good," Cassian said. He rolled back to face her, and Jyn thought she saw the shadow of a smile on his lips.

"What happened to your friend?"

"The one who gave me the nickname?" Cassian asked. His smile faded. "He was killed by the Empire."

That brought Jyn's laughing fit to an abrupt end. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We all know people who have suffered the same fate."

Jyn thought of her mother and father, and of the rest of Rogue One. They didn't know for sure that no one else had made it off Scarif, but realistically they had all died on the beach or to the Death Star's attack. _And soon enough we'll probably be joining them, when the Imperials are tired of asking us questions._

"Don't," Cassian said.

"Don't what?"

"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, we aren't going to die here."

"I wasn't thinking that," Jyn lied. She reached for her Kyber crystal, but it was gone, confiscated by the Empire.

"Good." Cassian said. "We'll get out of here soon." He said it so matter-of-factly that Jyn almost believed him. "But later. Right now, I'm going to get some rest." He put an arm under his head like a makeshift pillow.

Jyn rolled onto her side as well and closed her eyes, but rest wasn't forthcoming. They had gotten off of Scarif, but things were worse for her now than she could ever remember. Sure, she'd been in prison before, but never with constant interrogations or the threat of imminent execution hanging overhead.

Cassian was sure they would escape, but he could easily be lying to keep her spirits up. She hoped that he wasn't. She didn't want to think that they had come this far just to die in Imperial captivity.

* * *

They came for Cassian first the next day. Jyn wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but it seemed like the guards were getting rougher with the two of them. She was roused from sleep by two stormtroopers dragging Cassian off of his bed while a third covered her with a blaster by the door. Cassian struggled for a moment, but cried out in pain and went limp when one of the troopers hit him square in the back with the butt of his rifle.

The door slammed shut, and Jyn was left alone, wondering if she would see Cassian again or if the Empire had finally grown tired of them.

It wasn't long before she had other problems though. The door to the cell opened, and two stormtroopers entered. Floating in behind them was a spherical jet black droid that sported an arsenal of different appendages, each more unpleasant looking than the last. It rotated as it entered and blasted Jyn with the same bright light that she found in the interrogation room. She heard two measured steps from the doorway, then her interrogator spoke.

"You are to be congratulated; you have proven most resistant to standard techniques."

"Thanks," Jyn said, trying to catch a glimpse of her captor through heavily squinted eyes.

"Unfortunately, you still have information that I would like to know. That means we will have to try something new. Very new, in fact."

The spherical droid rotated while keeping its light trained on Jyn. She could just make out what looked like a long medical syringe before the droid started to move toward her. She instinctively tried to scramble away, but there wasn't anywhere to go. The two stormtroopers moved forward and held her down.

"I can assure you, struggling will only make things more difficult."

Jyn struggled anyway, but she couldn't break free. There was a sharp sting in her left arm, then a feeling of cold spreading throughout her body. Her attempts to fight off the stormtroopers became weaker and weaker, while the silhouette behind the droid began to spin.

"Now, I think I would like to review some of my previous questions…"

* * *

"Where are your friends?"

 _She was back on Scarif, climbing up the Imperial Archive in the Citadel Tower. Each data disk that she used as a handhold felt as though it was going to give way, but she had to keep climbing. The only chance they had to stop the Death Star was to get to the top and transmit the plans. The Empire had to be stopped._

 _A door behind her slid open. Jyn whipped around and found Krennic, a wide grin on his face, blaster trained on her. She tried to move aside, but it was too late. His first bolt struck her in the torso, and the second in her shoulder. The pain was incredible, and as her grip faltered she began to fall…_

"You keep asking me to make it stop, and I will. Just tell me where to find them."

 _Her father was in his study, back on Coruscant. His head was down and two fingers were on either temple. She had been hiding under his desk, where she liked to sit while he worked, but he hadn't noticed her yet._

 _"Papa," she asked._

 _His eyes snapped open, and he looked at her._

 _"What are you doing, Jyn? Get out from there," he said harshly._

 _She complied, lip quivering. He had never spoken to her like that before. Not even when she had been playing too close to the edge of the walkway and he was worried she might fall._

 _"Irritating thing. Always getting in the way of my work," he said. He pulled a hand back and slapped her hard across the face._

"Who leads the Rebellion. Give me their names."

 _Her mother collapsed as Krennic's blaster bolt hit her. Her head lolled to the side and faced Jyn. Even from a distance, she could see her mouth move and hear her mother's voice as though it was right next to her._

 _"You're the reason I died."_

"Had enough?"

 _"Father!" she cried, coming out of her hiding spot and running toward him. The wet platform afforded little traction, but she was determined to get to him. She was so close._

 _"Jyn?" he asked, turning his head and locating her._

 _Then he was struck by a blaster bolt, quick and accurate. It left a smoldering ruin where his heart had been. Her father fell. Crumbling unnaturally on the pad._

 _"No!" Jyn screamed. She traced the bolt's trajectory back to the source and found Cassian, his weapon in the sniper configuration, on the cliffs that overlooked the landing pad. As she watched, he ducked his head back behind the scope and took aim again, this time looking directly at her._

"Tell me where they are!"

 _She saw all of them die. Every single member of Rogue One. K_ _ay_ _was destroyed by a barrage of_ _blaster bolts_ _as he locked them in_ _to the data vault_ _. Dying for her and Cassian. Chirrut was killed on the beach_ _. A stormtrooper's thermal detonator consumed him in a ball of fire. A TIE making a strafing run ended Baze's life shortly after, then made quick work of Bodhi as he tried to pilot the shuttle to come rescue her and Cassian._

 _They were all dead. Because of her._

 _Cassian was dragged through the metal corridors between the cell block and the interrogation rooms, but the stormtroopers didn't stop there. Instead they continued to the next intersection and made a left. They stopped outside of a marked door and threw Cassian inside. He fell forward against the back wall and put his hands against it to regain his balance. They came away sticky and wet._

 _The wall was coated in blood._

 _When he turned, there was a full line of stormtroopers with their blasters trained on him._

"No!"

* * *

"Jyn."

She had killed them all. They all hated her in the end.

"Jyn, wake up."

What had the point of it all been? The Rebel fleet had probably been destroyed as well. Their message had never made it out. The Empire would use the Death Star to crush any resistance.

"Jyn!"

She finally became aware that someone was trying to get her attention. It was so difficult to listen though, like hearing them through water.

"That's it, come on."

Slowly, Jyn opened her eyes. They refused to focus, but she sensed enough familiarity to begin remembering where she was. On the Imperial ship, in the cell block, and the person trying to wake her was…

"Cassian," she said. Her voice sounded pained, and she reached out—or tried to, she couldn't seem to lift her arm completely.

"It's me," he confirmed. She felt his hand grasp hers, and that small reassurance was enough to calm her for the moment.

"You're alive."

"I think so," he said wryly. "Not for lack of people trying to kill me."

He helped her sit up, and her vision began to return. It was Cassian alright, and he was alive, but he didn't look very good. There was fresh bruising all across his face, and it looked like his nose had been broken. There was no blood—the Imperials must have cleaned him up—but that only made the sight even more unsettling.

"You're—"

"I'm fine," Cassian said, brushing her off. "You're the one that looks like they just fought a rancor."

"I'm fine too," she lied. Her head felt like it was full of molten rock, and she was having a hard time supporting her own weight.

"No you're not," Cassian said.

"Neither are you. So either we both lie, or you start being honest."

To her surprise, Cassian gave a little laugh. "I don't really have much practice with that. Life in Rebel Intelligence can make getting along with others a bit… difficult."

Jyn cast her eyes around the room meaningfully. _They're listening._ She mouthed, trying to ignore the dizziness that was crashing over her.

"Oh, they already know I'm in intelligence," Cassian said. He leaned in until his mouth was practically touching her ear. "Why do you think I'm still alive? They want to know what the Alliance knows."

He drew away and released her hand. Part of Jyn wished that he hadn't.

"Well, get your practice in now. Unless you've got something better to do," she said.

"I'll think about it," Cassian responded. He moved across the cell to his own bed and sat down heavily. "You have to start though. What did they do to you after I left?"

Jyn summarized her encounter with the droid and her interrogator.

"You were drugged?"

"Yeah," Jyn confirmed.

Cassian ran a hand over his stubble. "Do you remember anything they asked you?"

Jyn closed her eyes and tried to think back. At first there was nothing but a haze, then the questions started returning… along with the dreams.

"They wanted to know where the Rebel base was and who the leaders of the rebellion are."

Cassian looked at her intently. "Did you tell them?"

"I…" Panic rippled through Jyn. "I don't know, I can't remember telling them anything."

"You don't know? Are you sure?"

"I don't remember," she said again.

"You don't remember anything? Anything at all?"

Jyn tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed to face Cassian, but it was too much effort in her current state. "I had… dreams, only they weren't like normal dreams, more like memories. They were all things that had happened to me, but everything about them was wrong… like someone went through my life and tried to rip it apart."

Cassian got up and paced for a moment, hands clasped behind his back. Watching him made Jyn dizzy, so she studied the durasteel wall next to her bed.

"I've heard of something like that, but not from an interrogation drug…"

"From what?" Jyn asked.

"The Force," Cassian answered. "It's just rumors, but… I've heard that the Force can do terrible things to the mind… rip out your memories, or even change them." He stopped and looked at her. "Did you know we're on Darth Vader's flagship?"

Jyn's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"I heard the stormtroopers talking, when they thought I had passed out."

"Are you saying that Darth Vader did this to me?" Jyn asked.

"No," Cassian shook his head. "Vader isn't onboard right now. The guards were wondering when he would return. Apparently, he's at a secret Imperial facility…" Cassian let his sentence trail off and gave Jyn a meaningful look.

 _The Death Star._

"Do you think they were trying to change my memories?" Jyn asked. All of this was making her headache worse.

"No. You said that it felt like your life was being ripped apart. That sounds more like torture to me.

"I could have told them anything," Jyn said. The pounding in her head escalated with her heart rate.

"You didn't," Cassian said.

"How do you know?"

"Because you're still alive. If they had everything they wanted, they would have killed you already."

That was comforting in a rather morbid way. She calmed down, but her heart rate refused to settle peacefully. Cassian moved back to his bed and lied down gingerly. He laced his fingers and put his hands behind his head.

"Cassian?"

"Yeah?" he asked, gaze fixed on the blank ceiling.

"We need to get out of here." _Because even if I haven't told them anything, sooner or later one of us will. That is, if they don't get bored and decide to kill us first._

"I know. We will."

"Yeah."

Jyn didn't know why, but she believed it.

Cassian's voice was soft when he spoke next. "Do you still want to know about my family?"

Jyn paused. "Only if you want to tell me about them."

There was a long silence, and Jyn thought that Cassian had decided not to talk at all. Then he spoke again.

"My father was always an idealist. Most of the people on my planet didn't care about the Republic or its politics. When Palpatine started taking power, my father was furious. He joined the Separatists as soon as they showed up. I found out a year later that he was killed on Carida by the Republic. My mother was heartbroken, but I was a little boy. All I knew was that my father had been killed by the Republic, and that meant they were evil.

The Separatists were getting desperate at that point—desperate enough to take in a six year old boy. I made my first kill before I was ten, but by then the Separatists were defeated, and the Republic had become the Empire. We weren't a political movement anymore, we were just vigilantes and rebels trying to do what we could to get back at the Empire. There were over a hundred of us when I joined. By the time I was sixteen, less than a dozen were left."

Cassian cleared his throat. "When I was sixteen, I started hearing rumors of a new rebellion, something more organized. Me and two others went to track the Alliance down. Eventually we found a recruiter on—eh, well where isn't important, but we found a recruiter who got us in the door. I volunteered on the spot, and, now I'm here."

It was an unbelievable story. Jyn might have doubted some of it had she not had such an unbelievable life herself. Thrown into Saw's rebellion when she was hardly older than Cassian when he joined the Separatists, and then left to fend for herself for the past six years. Of course, Cassian knew all of that, the Alliance made it clear just how much information they had compiled on her before deciding to use her as an asset.

"Did you ever want to be anything else? Before you joined the Separatists?" she asked.

Cassian chuckled. "Yeah. When I was barely old enough to talk, I decided I wanted to be a space pirate, like in the holos. Exciting, right?" He gave her a smile.

"I think we've both had enough excitement," Jyn replied. "Maybe smuggling instead? You still get to fly a ship, flaunt authority, and travel the galaxy, but there's less of a chance of winding up dead."

"Hmm, maybe," Cassian said, as though seriously considering it. "I'll need a first mate, though. Are you up for it?"

"I don't think I could ever replace Kay," Jyn said.

"Maybe not. Kay liked to think that _he_ was the captain, though, and I think you'd be better in a fight. You've got the experience, anyway."

"Okay, but I want fifty percent of the cut from our runs."

Cassian laughed. "Not going to happen. Try twenty-five."

The feeling of being underwater had finally faded, and Jyn risked swinging her legs over the edge of the bed again. This time she was able to do it, albeit not without more effort than it should have taken.

"Careful," Cassian said, glancing over at her.

"I'm always careful." That was the biggest lie that Jyn had told since they met. "Alright, how about a bet? If I can stand up, it's fifty. If not, I'll settle for twenty-five."

Cassian sat up on his own bed and raised an eyebrow. Or at least, she thought he did. It was difficult to tell in the low lighting.

"Alright, let's see it."

Jyn pushed her feet solidly against the floor of the cell, then, with her left hand, used the wall to brace herself. With her right, Jyn pushed off the bed and stood. She immediately regretted it, as everything started spinning again, but the act felt like defiance—however small—against her captors, so she remained upright.

"Fifty," she said triumphantly, trying to sound like she wasn't on the verge of passing out.

It was no use, her legs shook and folded at the knees, and Jyn fell to the floor. Or she would have, if Cassian hadn't sprung up to catch her. She wrapped her arms around him for support and regained her feet, but neither of them let go once she had her balance back.

She looked up at him. Even with his face bruised and battered, the fight hadn't left his eyes. It helped bolster her own resolve, and suddenly Jyn was determined that they _would_ get out of there alive. She turned her head and pressed it up against his chest. He squeezed his arms around her tighter.

"Fifty it is," he whispered.

* * *

Again, Jyn was woken by the Imperials coming for them, but this time it was her that they took. She hadn't even come to her senses when the stormtroopers jerked her off of her bed and forced her onto her knees. She had just enough wherewithal to flex her wrists as they slapped restraints on her so that she could wriggle out of them if needed—an old trick she had picked up from one of Saw's men.

Something was wrong. The Imperials had never used restraints on her before, and when they pulled her to her feet and toward the door, Jyn saw an officer she didn't recognize standing between her and Cassian. Cassian seemed to sense that something was off too.

"Jyn!" he said, jumping up as they pulled her toward the door.

"Back off!" the officer said, jabbing a finger at Cassian threateningly.

"Where are you taking her?" Cassian lunged forward, running into the officer as he tried to get to Jyn.

"Restrain him!" the officer called, trying to push Cassian away.

One of the stormtroopers that had been pulling Jyn along broke off. He stepped forward and struck Cassian in the face with his blaster carbine. Cassian fell to his knees, a gash on his forehead flowing fresh blood.

"Stay down," the trooper said. Cassian looked as though he wanted to disobey, but he didn't move.

The trio of Imperials took Jyn out of the cell and down the corridor. She tried to get her footing, but the stormtroopers didn't seem interested in her comfort. Intent instead to continue dragging her. Once they passed the door that Jyn had come to associate with her interrogation sessions, she knew that she was in trouble. Further down the corridor, they stopped at another door. The officer patted his pocket for a moment, then cursed and whipped out a comlink.

"This is Lieutenant Hathen. I need access to ER-401. Authorization code besh-one-one-three-eight." There was a click of confirmation from the comlink, then the door slid open, and Jyn was thrust inside.

Her hands were bound behind her, making it impossible to break her fall. Her lip split as her face struck the ground, but Jyn ignored it and scrambled to her feet. The room they had pushed her into was nothing like the one in her dream. There was no blood staining the walls—in fact, they were pristine—but Jyn knew where she was regardless. They were going to execute her.

She began twisting her hands in the restraints behind her back, trying to work them free while the officer sealed the door behind them.

The officer cursed again, and mumbled about dropping something, then looked at the two stormtroopers expectantly. "Well, get on with it!"

They nodded, then took up positions on either side of the officer, two paces away from Jyn. She almost had one of her hands free. Just another minute…

"Rebel Conspirator, you have been found guilty of high treason. The penalty for such is death, sentence to be carried out immediately."

"Do I get any final words, or are you just going to kill me like an animal?" Jyn asked. Anything to stall for time. Her hand was _almost_ out. Just a few more seconds.

"Valediction noted," the officer said. He turned to look at one of the troopers. "Do it."

There was a flurry of activity at once. The door behind the officer slid open, causing him and one of the stormtroopers to turn. At the same time, the other stormtrooper opened fire, but his shot flew over Jyn's head as she hit the floor. One of her hands came loose, and the restraints popped open. She rolled and flung them at her would-be executioner, striking him in the helmet and knocking him backward.

"What is the—" the officer shouted. The rest of his sentence was cut short as the intruder tackled him, pushing both of them back into the stormtrooper that had turned to the door and sending all three sprawling to the ground.

 _Cassian!_

Jyn didn't stop moving. By the time her attacker had regained his balance, she was in his face. She swiped the blaster out of his hand and kicked hard at the side of his knee where there was no armor plating. The joint bent awkwardly, and the stormtrooper screamed. Jyn flattened her hand and jammed it into the trooper's throat, silencing him immediately.

The officer on the floor was crawling for the blaster that Jyn's attacker had dropped, while Cassian wrestled with the other stormtrooper. Jyn dove on top of the carbine and scrambled to her feet, holding it in front of her.

"Wait!" the officer yelled.

Jyn pulled the trigger, and he dropped to the floor dead. She brought the weapon to bear on Cassian and the last stormtrooper. They were wrestling with each other and the stormtrooper's blaster, each trying to grip hold of it while fighting the other. Jyn didn't stop to think about it or aim, she just shot on instinct. There was a moment where she held her breath as both of them stopped moving, then Cassian shoved the stormtrooper's body off of him and scrambled to his feet.

"Thanks," he said, crouching to pick up the second blaster. He checked that it was set for kill, then stood and jerked his head to the door. "Come on, time to get out of here."

* * *

 **(A/N):** This chapter took a little longer than I expected, but hopefully the extra time translates to higher quality. For those wondering, I'm going to try to post about an update a week ( **try** ). I don't anticipate this being a very long story (probably less than 100k words) unless I majorly change my outline somewhere along the way.

Fun fact: alternate titles for this chapter included: "The Rancor's Den," "Captivity," "Imprisoned," and "ER-401".

Thanks for reading.


	3. Prisoner Transfer

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Chapter 3

Prisoner Transfer

Jyn stepped over the first stormtrooper she had fought. She reached down and pulled off his helmet to make sure he was dead. Underneath she found an empty gaze and no pulse. There was no mistaking the fact that the other two Imperials were dead as well. Their injuries had killed them instantly. One problem was solved, but a much bigger one lie ahead if she and Cassian were going to escape.

"How are we going to get past the guards?" Jyn asked. She clamped the blaster under her arm and turned the helmet over in her hands. Its empty eyepieces stared at her. "There's going to be dozens of stormtroopers between us and the hangar."

"That's less than there were on Scarif," Cassian pointed out.

"Doesn't mean they won't kill us," Jyn responded. She thought for a moment, then her eyes fell from the helmet to the stormtrooper at her feet. He had died from a crushed windpipe, leaving his armor untarnished by any blasterfire. "Remember how we got in the base on Scarif?"

Cassian gave her a funny look. "I don't think I like where this is going."

"Put on the armor," she said, pointing to the stormtrooper.

"Why not the uniform?" Cassian asked. "An officer would get further with less questions."

"I know you haven't looked in the mirror lately, but trust me, you're going to want this," Jyn said, tossing the helmet to Cassian.

Cassian raised a hand and ran it along his bruised and swollen face thoughtfully. "Fine, but what about you?"

"I'm your prisoner."

"My…? Ah." Cassian had already started stripping the trooper's armor off and putting it on himself. "Watch the door. I don't want anyone walking in on us in such a compromising position." He gave her a cheeky wink.

Jyn rolled her eyes, but took a position covering the door regardless. Within a few moments, Cassian completed his transformation by slipping on the helmet. With the armor on, he was indistinguishable from any of the Empire's soldiers.

"Let's go," Jyn said, gesturing towards the door.

"Okay," Cassian's voice sounded tinny through the helmet. "You may want to leave the blaster. I don't think those are standard issue for Imperial prisoners."

Jyn tossed it aside, then allowed Cassian to take her by the arm—much as her captors had for the past week—and guide her to the door.

"You have to get us to the turbolift. I was unconscious when they brought us from the hangar."

Jyn thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I think I can get us there."

"Think?"

"We're not supposed to lie anymore, remember?"

Cassian cocked his head, the stormtrooper armor giving him a rather comical appearance. "You couldn't have made an exception?"

"Sorry. Left when we leave this room," Jyn said.

"Got it."

Cassian hit the door release, then guided Jyn into the hallway, blaster trained firmly on her. Jyn tried to do her best to look like a downtrodden prisoner being dragged along as they took a left and made a hasty walk toward the next intersection.

"Right," Jyn whispered.

Cassian squeezed her arm to let her know that he understood. When they reached the intersection, they were forced to move to the side to allow an officer rounding the corner to pass them. Jyn held her breath, but the officer didn't even give them a second glance as he continued toward the detention area.

They went straight through the next two intersections, passing through what Jyn thought was a barracks. It was difficult to be sure on such a huge ship. The walls all looked the same, and the further they got, the more Jyn began to question her memory. She hadn't been in great shape either when the Imperials took her down the turbolift, and it didn't help matters that she'd never gone directly from the turbolift to the detention area—on her original journey there had been a detour to the medbay.

Jyn almost reached for her crystal, then stopped herself. She knew that her hand would find nothing. The kyber crystal had likely been taken as a trophy by the ship's commander, or another greedy officer.

"Which way?" Cassian whispered through his helmet.

Jyn realized with a jolt that they had come to the next intersection already.

"Left… no, right," Jyn said.

Cassian turned his helmet toward her. She couldn't see his face, but she could imagine the expression he was making. Something along the lines of "are you kidding me?"

They turned right. Traffic in the corridors was beginning to pick up, which Jyn interpreted as a good sign. The more people they ran into, the more likely they were close to the ship's major arteries, all of which would lead to the turbolifts. Theoretically.

Some of the Imperials gave them questioning looks as Jyn and Cassian walked by, but they pressed on, heedless of the attention. They were committed now. Either their gambit would succeed, or the two of them would die in the attempt.

One more left, and then Jyn saw them ahead: three turbolifts side-by-side. Somehow they had found their way. Now they just needed to wait for a lift that would take them to the hangar.

"What's going on here?"

Jyn's blood froze as Cassian turned to confront the officer that had accosted them. Jyn couldn't read Imperial rank insignia, but she grasped the basic gist of more bars equals bigger ego. The officer confronting them looked to have a pretty big ego if his rank bars were to be believed.

"Prisoner transfer," Cassian said. His accent sounded out of place among the standardized perfection of the Empire. Jyn nearly cringed.

"Prisoner transfer? To where?" the officer asked.

"I don't know," Cassian said. "I was told to bring her to the hangar and hand her off to the squad standing by."

"You don't know?" the man sounded as though he had never heard anything so ridiculous in his life.

One of the turbolifts sounded a tone indicating it had arrived on their floor. The doors opened, and both of its occupants exited.

"Apologies, Commander. I don't ask questions, I just follow orders." Cassian shoved Jyn into the turbolift and followed after.

Jyn took a tiny step to the left and began tapping the button that would take them to the primary hangar.

 _These blasted doors need to close before we get busted_.

"Hey! Hold it!" the officer said.

"Sorry, this is urgent business. Ask Lieutenant Hathan if you have more questions."

As if to punctuate Cassian's words, the turbolift doors slid firmly shut, separating them from their questioner.

Jyn sagged against the rounded wall next to her.

"That was too close," she said.

"Agreed. What's our next move?"

"You're asking me? Wasn't this your plan?" Jyn said.

Before Cassian could reply, the doors to the lift opened. Three fresh-faced naval officers—two men and a woman—were on the other side, the oldest of them looked younger than Jyn. They began to step inside, but Cassian shook his head.

"She tried to bite the last one that got in here," he said, jerking his helmet toward Jyn. "Got a good one in before I could get her under control. He's in the medbay now getting his finger reattached."

All three of the officers looked at Jyn. She started slightly, as though she might lunge at them. Cassian pretended to tighten his grip and pressed the barrel of his blaster against her side.

"Uh, alright, we'll wait for the next one," the female said.

She must have been the group's leader, because the other two nodded and stepped back. Jyn saw one of them holding his fingers tightly in his other hand before the doors slid shut again.

"Oh, so I'm a cannibal now, am I?" Jyn asked.

"You'd be surprised at the scum the Rebellion recruits," Cassian said flatly.

"Yeah, I heard they even take in Separatist fanatics."

Cassian gave a short laugh, but it sounded more like his helmet speaker had malfunctioned.

The turbolift didn't stop again until it was on the floor for the primary hangar on the underside of the ship. Jyn took a deep breath and moved outside of the turbolift with Cassian. The hangar was enormous. Easily the biggest that Jyn had ever seen. Racks of TIEs lined each wall, with freighters and shuttles occupying most of the hangar's middle. Starship maintenance crews scurried back and forth across the area, a flurry of constant motion. Even as Jyn watched, two TIEs left their docks and exited the mag barrier, leaving twin streaks behind them as they dove and accelerated for open space.

"Alright, now what?" Jyn hissed as they passed between two identical shuttles.

"Now we steal a ship and go home," Cassian said.

"But which one?"

"Good question," Cassian said. After a moment, he jerked Jyn to the side. "That one," he said, heading for a Kuati freighter. It looked reliable enough… except for the carbon scoring around the sides that indicated recent combat. The ship had a strange design, with an aerodynamic cockpit jutting out from the middle of a rather bulky disk. To either side of the cockpit were what looked like two wings that were set into the disk. The entire ship looked like it had been sewn together from two parts.

Jyn wasn't familiar with any ships of that design. She only recognized its origin because of the aurabesh insignia it boasted near the bow. She hadn't expected to find anything like this in a Star Destroyer's hangar. It was probably an unregistered ship that the Imperials had picked up somewhere along their way. However, it was the only ship around that had its boarding ramp extended, so Jyn didn't really see any other choice.

The two of them ducked under a shuttle and scampered up the freighter's ramp. Jyn slapped the ramp's control as they moved inside, bringing it up behind them.

"Let's hope this thing still flies," Cassian said.

"Well, it got this far," Jyn said as they reached the cockpit.

Cassian took his helmet off and threw it into the co-pilot's chair. He sat roughly in the captain's seat and began punching at the controls.

"They locked it down," he said.

Jyn cursed, but Cassian didn't seem perturbed.

"We're not done yet. This is a Kuati ship,"

"So?"

Cassian smiled. "So, all ships made on Kuat have a hard reset sequence built into them. If the Imperials were lazy and didn't disable it, that should give us control."

"All ships made on Kuat?" Jyn asked.

"Well, a lot of them," Cassian said. He reached over and pulled the hyperdrive lever twice, then punched a three number sequence into the navicomputer. "That should do it. Flip the switch over your head. The yellow one, with a red symbol next to it."

Jyn glanced up and found the switch easily enough. She flipped it, but nothing happened. She looked at Cassian expectantly.

"Flip it back?" he said.

Jyn complied, and the second the switch was returned to it original position, the entire cockpit thrummed with power. All of the instruments lit up, and Jyn saw a prompt appear on the screen in front of Cassian.

"How did you know that?" Jyn asked. "Not that I'm complaining."

Cassian laughed as he began running diagnostics. "I wanted to be a space pirate, remember?"

"I wanted to be a Jedi… doesn't mean I can use the Force," Jyn mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Cassian muttered something, then waved Jyn forward. "See this?" he said, indicating a scene that gave a bird's eye schematic of the ship.

"What am I looking for?" Jyn asked.

"Watch," Cassian said. He reached to his left and turned what looked like a flat valve. The top half of the schematic—the part that showed the cockpit and swooped wings—glowed yellow. "This is a split-ship," Cassian told her. "If I pull this lever, I can detach the cockpit section from the body."

"Why would anyone do that?" Jyn asked.

"Well, you gain a lot of maneuverability that way. The cockpit section handles more like a snubfighter than a freighter. Plus, you can control both sections from the main cockpit. You can even send the other half into lightspeed. Smugglers use it to drop their cargo in a hurry without actually losing anything."

"It can split into two and go to lightspeed?"

Cassian released the valve and punched a few more buttons, probing the ship's databanks. "Not exactly," he said, reading rapidly. "The hyperdrive is in the body of the ship, so only that half can make the jump, and only _this_ half can make the separation."

"Okay, but how does that help us escape?"

"It doesn't, but I've got to wait for the diagnostic to finish before we can leave, so I thought I might see what this thing can do." He scratched at his stubble, then began pouring over the other monitors as they flashed information. "Why don't you go make sure we don't have any unexpected guests?" Cassian asked.

"I… think I'll go do that," Jyn responded, realizing that they had neglected to make sure the ship was empty.

"Take this," Cassian said, offering the blaster he had stolen from their captors.

Jyn accepted it with a nod then left the cockpit and began going from room to room, checking for any surprises the Imperials might have left them. There was a galley, three different sleeping quarters, a common area, and of course, a cargo bay. All of them were squeaky-clean, as though the Empire had gone scrubbed every nook and cranny. As far as Jyn knew, they may have. At the center of the ship was a ladder that led down to the freighter's sole manned turret on the underside.

"Jyn, get up here, we have a problem."

Cassian's voice through the intercom made Jyn jump as it echoed around the ship. She gripped the blaster tightly and jogged to the cockpit, where she found Cassian furiously entering calculations into the navicomputer. There was a red light on the console blinking steadily.

"What's the problem?" Jyn asked.

"There's two," Cassian said.

"Then let's take them one at a time, shall we?"

"Well, the first problem is that as soon as we launch and break away from the ship, the bridge is going to have a tractor beam on us before we can blink." Cassian didn't look at her as he spoke, instead he continued working on the navicomputer. "I think I have a solution for that. I'm programming the ship to jump to lightspeed as soon as we're clear of the hangar, but even after the calculations are complete, I'll have to disable the hyperdrive's safety precautions, which will take time."

"Isn't that, uh, potentially deadly?" Jyn asked.

Cassian shrugged. "So is getting executed by the Empire." He finished whatever he had been inputting, and turned to face her.

"Alright, what's the second problem?"

Cassian jerked a thumb towards the blinking red light on the ship's console. "Flight control noticed someone tampering with the ship. They're trying to hail us."

"So let's go," Jyn said.

Cassian shook his head. "Not before the computer finishes its calculations."

"How long will that take?"

"What I asked it to do? Minutes," Cassian said.

"And how long will it take the stormtroopers to get here?"

"Minutes?" Cassian responded.

"Maybe I should head to the turret," Jyn said. "Just in case we have to blast our way out of here."

"Yeah," Cassian agreed. "Somehow I think we might."

Jyn began to go, but something made her stop. She turned back and put a hand on Cassian's shoulder. The stormtrooper armor he was wearing was cool to the touch, so she shifted her hand to the back of his neck. He looked back at her, surprise on his face.

"Thanks for… everything," Jyn said. "I'm… just, thanks."

Cassian slowly raised his hand until it was covering hers.

"You're welcome," he said.

They stayed like that for a moment, then the gravity of the situation brought Jyn back to her senses, and she pulled her arm away. As she turned to leave the cockpit, Cassian's voice stopped her.

"Jyn?"

"Yeah?"

Cassian looked like he wanted to say something, but after a second he shook his head. "May the Force be with you."

Jyn nodded, then left the cockpit and jogged back to the ladder. She slid down it and landed in the turret's chair. An arm holding a combat headset bumped at her left shoulder, so Jyn grabbed it and threw it over her head. In front of her, she could see the hangar crew beginning to disperse. Not a good sign.

"Cassian, come in," Jyn said, adjusting her microphone.

"I read you."

"Flight crews are all leaving in a hurry. I think we're going to have company sooner than later." Jyn activated the turret and tested the movements. It felt a bit sluggish, so she dialed up the mechanism's sensitivity.

"I think you're right. I'll try to stall them."

The comm channel clicked quiet. Jyn adjusted herself as best as she could in the seat. It had been built for someone larger than her, so she kept sliding left and right when the gun swiveled.

Cassian's voice broke into her ear. "I think I might have made it worse. They're definitely sending a squad."

"What the blazes did you tell them?" Jyn asked.

"I told them… look, it doesn't matter. Just get ready."

As though to punctuate his words, Jyn saw a wave of stormtroopers converging on their position from the direction of the turbolifts.

"Uh, this looks more like a platoon than a squad," Jyn said. "How much longer on those calculations?"

"Not long. Just keep them away from the ramp."

Jyn swung the turret around to face the closest of the advancing stormtroopers, then opened fire just as he rounded the corner of a shuttle. The turret chugged a stream of fat red energy that struck the floor of the hangar and sent the stormtrooper flying. The two troops that had been behind him fell to the ground and scrambled backward for cover.

Jyn made a wide arc of blasterfire, blanketing the hangar floor. Few of her shots connected with targets, but the stormtroopers were forced to stop advancing, and all she needed to do was buy time.

"Port!" Cassian called through the headset.

The turret whipped around at Jyn's command, and she opened fire on the squad of stormtroopers that had been trying to sneak past and flank her. One of them snapped off a shot of his own, which struck one of the transparisteel plates in front of Jyn. The plate darkened slightly, but absorbed the blast.

Back at the aft of the ship, the rest of the platoon had taken advantage of the distraction and begun to advance further. Jyn spun and directed her fire at the landing struts of the nearest shuttle. Within seconds, the metal had been reduced to molten slag. The ship teetered, then crashed to the ground, crushing a group of stormtroopers that had been taking cover beneath it.

"How much longer?" Jyn called.

"A few minutes!" Cassian said.

In front of Jyn, three different squads were hastily setting up mounted blasters. She tried to blast them before they could finish, but their squadmates had set up portable cover in front of them. Along with that, they were peppering the dome around Jyn with constant fire, darkening the viewports to the point that she was beginning to worry that they might shatter.

There was a low grinding from behind her. Jyn craned her neck and her heart sank. The hangar's emergency doors were sliding closed. There would be no escape if they didn't make it outside before the doors were shut.

"We don't have a few minutes!" Jyn said.

"I see it," Cassian said. "Hang on!"

The freighter shook as Cassian pushed the repulsorlifts hard. Jyn kept firing blindly below her, even as she turned her head to focus on the closing doors.

" _Come on, come on, come on!_ " she said under her breath as the freighter's engines fired and they accelerated towards the doors.

They weren't going to make it. The ship was too wide, and the remaining gap too small, but it was too late to stop now.

The instant before Jyn thought they were going to collide with the doors, Cassian turned the ship on its side, and they squeezed through the gap into open space. Jyn blew out a breath as she saw the doors slam shut behind them, but they weren't finished yet.

"I've got to hug the ship so they can't get a beam on us. Keep the TIEs off our backs."

"Copy," Jyn said.

She activated the targeting display in front of her. It hadn't been much use in the hangar, but now she was going to need it. Before she had even finished getting the display on, a TIE fighter screamed across her field of view, flashing green lasers that rocked the ship. Jyn tried to track it, but it was gone before she even had a chance.

Jyn swore, then reoriented the turret and glanced back and forth, trying to spot out the next TIE before it put a hole in the freighter.

"Two coming in at point oh-three," Cassian said.

Jyn swiveled to the vector he gave and found them. Two blips popped up on her computer, and Jyn moved the turret back and forth, trying to get a lock. She had one for a moment, and let loose a stream of blasterfire, but she was a second too late to score a hit. However, her blast did force the two TIEs to break off their attack and regroup.

Cassian called out another vector, and Jyn turned to fight off their latest attacker. This time she was quick enough, and her stream of fire tore the wing off of the TIE, sending it spinning away toward whatever planet the Star Destroyer was orbiting.

"The calculations are almost done… but we've got another problem," Cassian said.

"What now?!" Jyn asked, whipping the turret around and snapping off a few quick shots at a TIE below them.

"The ship won't let me jump so close to the destroyer. I could override the safety precautions, but I'm kind of busy right now."

As if to punctuate his point, the ship dove and entered a spin that made Jyn clutch the grips of the turret for support. Abruptly, they pulled out of the dive and moved back to the underside of the destroyer.

"How far away do we need to be?" Jyn asked, trying to get her bearings back.

"Not far," Cassian said. "But far enough that they'll have a clear shot with the tractor beam."

"What other options do we have?"

"Not any good ones," Cassian said.

"Then do it."

Cassian didn't even respond. Instead, the freighter entered a swooping turn that took it away from the planet and accelerated. A group of TIEs formed up behind them as they left the destroyer's shadow, taking shots to try to break through their shield. Jyn poured fire into the middle of the formation, and the TIEs scattered.

The freighter began juking in random directions as Cassian tried to make them as difficult as possible to target.

"We're almost there," Cassian said. His voice was strained.

Jyn reached for her kyber crystal, but found nothing.

"Calculations complete. Just a little further."

Jyn closed her eyes, hoping that the Force would guide them to safety.

"Hyperdrive ready to jump in three… two… one…"

The freighter jerked suddenly. Jyn snapped her eyes open, but there was no swirl of hyperspace to greet them. Instead, she found a starfield, a planet, and a Star Destroyer.

"We're caught in a tractor beam," Cassian said. The pain in his voice came through loud and clear. Jyn felt it echo through her.

"I'm sorry, Cassian," she said.

"Sorry for what? We did everything we…" He trailed off. Jyn felt the ship shaking as its engines fought the tractor beam. Cassian's voice crackled over the comm, distorted by interference from the tractor beam. "It's not over yet."

"What?"

Cassian's voice sounded distant when he responded, as though he was talking to himself just as much as her. "We made it far enough away. We've still got a few seconds before they start pulling us in…"

"What are you talking about, Cassian? I thought they had us?"

"They do… but not all of us," Cassian said. "You can still make it out."

" _Me_? What about…" Jyn stopped talking as she realized what Cassian was going to do. "Don't," was all she could think to say.

"Sorry, Jyn… Detaching now."

The ship juddered, and suddenly Jyn felt herself accelerating again. Behind her, the freighter's upper half appeared… and began shrinking away from her as the tractor beam claimed it. Jyn could just make out Cassian through the cockpit viewport. Then her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes.

"You idiot!" she yelled. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving you," Cassian responded. "The tether can only be broken from the primary cockpit, remember? I've still got control of you though."

"Cassian… please…" Jyn wasn't even sure what she wanted him to do. She just didn't want to leave him.

"Goodbye, Jyn. I…" But whatever he was going to say was swallowed by static as the hyperdrive activated.

"Cassian!" Jyn yelled, but it was too late. The stars began to stretch around her viewport, and within seconds she had entered hyperspace.

* * *

 **(A/N):** This chapter took a little longer than anticipated. Thanks for reading


	4. End of Transmission

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Chapter 4

End of Transmission

Jyn had no idea where Cassian had sent her. It was only once she came out of hyperspace that the auxiliary console informed her she had arrived at Fest. Once there, Jyn broadcast a general distress signal on the alliance channel Cassian had programmed into the comm. Her call was answered, but it would be nearly a day before anyone could retrieve her.

That gave Jyn plenty of time to think. She felt much like the ship—just floating through space. The autopilot had established a stable orbit, much as Jyn continued to go through the necessary motions of life, but neither of them had any clear direction. All Jyn knew what that she had to go back.

It was difficult to process everything that she was feeling. There was anger, plenty of it, because they were supposed to have been in it together. He should have known that she wouldn't want to leave without him. But she knew that Cassian had done everything for her, and she couldn't help but feel grateful that he had. She kept going through that mental exercise again and again, but mostly she was left with guilt. Cassian had sacrificed himself to save her, and he had done it without a thought. Too many people had died for her already, Jyn didn't want to think about him being the next.

By the time the Alliance's rescue ship arrived, Jyn had nearly driven herself mad trying to plan Cassian's rescue. She hadn't slept in far too long, and it was taking its toll. When the comlink pinged and a man's voice floated through the crew area, Jyn thought for a fleeting moment that Cassian had somehow made it out, but then she realized that the voice was wrong. A quick check of the console showed a ship attempting to dock with hers.

It was a Corellian freighter, and not a very sightly one. Jyn balked when she got a good look of it out the viewport. If the thing flew the way it looked, she and whoever the Alliance had sent for her would be needing _another_ rescue ship by the time they made it back to Yavin.

"Come in Rogue One, this is your rescue, over," the ship's pilot repeated.

"This is Rogue One," Jyn answered, thumbing the comm. Her voice sounded cracked and raspy.

"Finally. I haven't got all day, you know," the pilot grumbled. "We're going to dock with your lower cargo hatch. Just wait til I give you the signal, then open it up."

"Got it," Jyn said. She weaved her way to the cargo bay and found the hatch. It was roughly the size of the one she had climbed through at the top of the Citadel tower on Scarif. There was a line on the floor that trailed up the wall and terminated at a switch box. Jyn moved next to it and waited.

"Alright, we're docked," the comm said after a few moments.

Jyn flipped the switch, and the hatch opened up. She recoiled for a moment when a large hairy head came poking through the floor. It swiveled to find her and roared what might have been a question.

"Sorry?" Jyn said.

The Wookiee shook his head and finished climbing out of the hatch, just barely squeezing through. He beckoned her over and growled something before gesturing to the hole he had just emerged from. Jyn nodded and climbed down. Beyond the hatch, she found ladder rungs that brought her down into the Corellian ship. Its interior did nothing to assuage Jyn's fears of breaking down on the way back to the rebellion, but she hardly had time to appraise it before the Wookiee came down behind her and began guiding her through the ship.

When they reached the cockpit, the pilot glanced back at them. He gave Jyn a lopsided smile.

"Welcome to the _Falcon_."

"Is the _Falcon_ going to make it back to the Alliance?" Jyn asked.

The smile fell away from the pilot's face immediately. "She'll do more than make it. Trust me, you'll be glad they sent _me_ to pick you up if we run into any trouble."

"Uh-huh," Jyn said, unconvinced.

"Some thanks for the rescue," the pilot grumbled, turning back to the controls. "You got anything you want on that ship?"

"No."

"Then we're out of here," the pilot pulled a lever and the ships separated. "Chewie, why don't you make sure our new friend is comfortable? Dodonna says she's some big shot."

Chewie growled something that made the pilot chuckle, then motioned for Jyn to follow him and left the cockpit. Jyn trailed behind him as they came to a crew area that resembled the one she had just left, although this one looked like it hadn't seen any upgrades since the ship was built. Past the crew area was a hallway with bunks on either side. The Wookiee guided Jyn into one, pointed out the 'fresher, then left her alone.

Jyn felt the ship shift into hyperspace, but she felt no reassurance from the knowledge that they were returning to the Alliance. Her thoughts dwelt on what she had left behind.

 _Cassian_.

She had to save him, and if she wanted to do that, she would have to convince the Alliance to help. They had to listen. It was their fault that Cassian was in this mess to begin with… because they hadn't listened to her last time.

Far sooner than Jyn expected, there was a knock on the door of her quarters. She answered, and found the pilot standing casually outside, leaning against the side of the doorway.

"We're coming out of hyperspace in a minute."

"We've already reached Yavin?" Jyn asked.

The pilot gave her a funny look. "Yavin? No, we're not… how long have you been out of contact?"

There was a sinking sensation on Jyn's gut. The Empire had the power to destroy a planet. If they had discovered the Rebel base, then Yavin 4 might no longer exist… But the rebellion lived on at least. They had responded to her request for rescue, and if their headquarters had been destroyed—along with most of the leadership—Jyn doubted that she would have been much of a priority.

"A week, maybe longer. I was an Imperial prisoner, so I haven't got any information since the Battle of Scarif."

"Scarif?" The man blew out a quick sigh. "You've got a lot of catching up to do. I'll let Leia fill you in when we dock. She wanted to talk to you personally, and you'll probably like it better coming from her."

The pilot left Jyn alone, with far more questions than answers. Did Leia mean Leia _Organa_? Jyn found it hard to believe that her rescuer had enough clout within the Alliance, or any organization for that matter, to refer to the youngest human senator in history, and daughter of one of the Alliance's key members, by first name.

Jyn found her way to the cockpit and took a seat behind the pilot and his Wookiee companion just in time to see the swirl of hyperspace dissolve into individual points of light. In front of them lie the fleet of the Rebel Alliance… if you could call it a fleet. There wasn't a capital ship to speak of. A handful of frigates and a smattering of heavy freighters were all that Jyn could see. As they drew closer, some smaller ships—hardly even bigger than snubfighters—came into view as well, but on the whole, Jyn wasn't exactly impressed. Their losses at Scarif must have been severe, because as it stood, two Star Destroyers would give the entire Rebellion a run for its money.

The _Falcon_ and its passengers headed for one of the two larger frigates. The captain exchanged words with the flight control, and the three of them were given access to a hangar, this one much smaller than the one Jyn and Cassian had made their escape from. As soon as the _Falcon_ touched down, the pilot rose and headed out the back of the cockpit.

"Coming?" he asked Jyn over his shoulder.

She stood and followed him down the landing platform. Ten meters away from them, a door in the hangar wall slid open. It wasn't Leia Organa who came to greet them. Instead Jyn was met by a more familiar, but less friendly, face.

"General Draven," the pilot said. It was clear from his voice, that he wasn't pleased by their welcoming committee either. "I thought the princess was—"

"She was delayed," Draven cut in. Two security officer, much like the ones that had escorted Jyn on Yavin 4, stood behind either shoulder. "I've come instead."

"Well that's wonderful news, but Leia told me specifically that she—"

"I'll take Miss Erso from here, Solo," Draven said.

He nodded to the soldiers beside him, and they moved forward. One of them had restraints in his hands, and made to clamp them on Jyn's wrists.

"Are you serious?!" Jyn said, drawing away. "I just got _out_ of an Imperial prison, which I was only in because of _you_ , and now you want to put those on me?"

"It's a necessity, I'm afraid. We don't know what you went through in captivity. You'll have to be restrained until a full evaluation can be completed." Dravin said.

"Easy, General," Solo said. "If she was going to start biting, she could have done it when we picked her up."

Jyn felt a wave of gratitude toward her rescue pilot.

"It's standard procedure," Draven said.

He motioned the two guard forward again, but they both stopped cold as Jyn heard a roar. She whirled around to find Chewie standing behind her protectively. He looked from one guard to the other, and they shrank away from him.

"I'm sure we can make an exception this time," Solo said, offering a wide smile. "I think Miss Erso, uh…" he looked to her questioningly.

"Jyn," she supplied.

"I think Jyn will be fine without the cuffs, and I'm betting that General Dodonna and Leia would agree with me."

Chewie signaled his agreement.

Draven sighed, clearly annoyed by the standoff. "Fine, we'll do without the restraints. But I will be taking Miss Erso for an evaluation now."

Solo nodded, then turned to Jyn. "If they give you any trouble, let Chewie and me know."

He winked at her, then walked off through the door that Draven had used, nearly brushing the general as he passed. Chewie followed in his wake, eyeing the guards suspiciously.

"Now, if you will?" Draven asked.

Jyn nodded, and allowed the guards to take positions on either side of her. It felt like she had gone from one prison to another as the guards escorted her much as the stormtroopers had, but neither of them trained blasters on her, and no stormtrooper had warned her to watch her step before they moved over an elevated threshold.

Jyn practically laughed when they reached the medbay. Not only had she somehow managed to find herself in another medbay, but this one was woefully understocked compared to the Empire's. She only spotted one medical droid, and two of the four bacta tanks were empty.

"Take a seat," Draven said, gesturing to an empty bed.

Jyn sat, and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Somehow she doubted that would help endear her to Draven.

"I would like your account, in detail, of the battle on Scarif and its aftermath," Draven said.

"Aren't I supposed to be being evaluated?" Jyn asked.

"You will receive a full physical and mental evaluation in due time," Draven responded. "But for now, I'd like you to answer my questions."

"Fine," Jyn said. "But how about you take notes so that I don't have to go over this again?"

Draven nodded to one of the guards, who produced a small datapad.

"Proceed."

Jyn spent the next hour relaying everything she could remember from the moment she left Yavin 4 to when she stepped off of the _Falcon_ with Solo and Chewie. It was difficult for her to recount the details of he captivity, both because she would prefer not to think about it and because her memory was hazy for portions of it.

To his credit, Draven didn't interrupt her. He only asked for clarifications once Jyn had finished, and afterwards he nodded.

"Your story does hold up with what little we've been able to piece together. At least as far as the Battle of Scarif goes."

"Piece together?" Jyn asked. "So the rest of Rogue One…?"

"Dead," Draven responded flatly.

"Oh."

Jyn had expected as much, but it still hurt to have it confirmed. She had spent most of her life alone, or as a follower. It was hard to swallow the fact that she had led people—friends—to their deaths.

"They won't be forgotten," Draven said.

Jyn was caught off guard by the sentiment in his voice. Up to this point, she had assumed the General was non-emotive at best and cold-hearted at worst.

Draven cleared his throat. "But we cannot dwell on the past. The Rebellion has to move forward if it wants to survive."

That was more in line with the response that Jyn had been expecting.

"Move forward, fine, but not at the expense of lives that can be saved," Jyn responded.

Draven frowned. "You're referring to Captain Andor, I take it?"

"Yes. He sacrificed himself so that I could get back here, but we can't just leave him behind. If we can—"

"If we can what?" Draven asked. "The possibility of us rescuing Captain Andor, regardless of your personal feelings about the matter, is a fantasy. Do you know where he is being held?"

"On Darth Vader's flagship!" Jyn said.

"And where is that ship?" Draven asked.

"I… I'm not sure," Jyn admitted.

"Could you identify it on sight?"

"No."

Draven raised an eyebrow. "Do you know that Captain Andor is still being held there?"

"No."

"And do you know that he hasn't already been executed by the Empire?"

Jyn didn't respond. She knew that Draven was right, but she desperately didn't want to believe it. Her upbringing had turned her into a realist, but she couldn't seem to accept the reality that Draven had laid out before her.

The general sighed, then motioned for the two guards to leave them. When they had exited the medbay, he spoke in a low voice.

"I understand how you're feeling. You may not believe me, but I know what its like to have to leave someone behind. The only difference between us is that I've had to get used to it."

"The only difference between us is that you've given up," Jyn replied.

Draven straightened. He looked at her for a long moment. "Regretfully, I can't permit the use of Alliance resources in a rescue operation for Captain Andor. It would be best for everyone if you accept the fact that he is most likely dead. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." Draven summoned a Twi'lek doctor from the far side of the medbay and issued orders for Jyn to receive a full examination before leaving the room.

Jyn felt like something was burning inside of her as the Twi'lek ensured that she was in a fit state. She hadn't expected to convince Draven, and that was fine, there were other members of the Alliance that could help her. However, she hadn't expected his response to hurt so much either, and she worried that it hurt because she knew there was truth in it. The Imperials had been about to execute her when the two of them had tried to escape. The odds were pretty low that they still wanted Cassian alive, especially after he had caused so much trouble.

"Alright, now breathe deeply and try to relax," the doctor told her.

Jyn took a deep breath, but she couldn't relax. She couldn't rest until she had convinced the Alliance to help her rescue Cassian… or until they had convinced her that he was beyond rescue.

* * *

Jyn was falling in and out of consciousness when she became aware that someone was standing near her bed. Her eyes opened, and she tried to jerk upward, ready for action, but her body wouldn't obey without complaint. Her movements felt slow and heavy—almost as they had when the Imperials had drugged her. But she knew this wasn't the result of any interrogation drug. She hadn't slept in over a day, and exhaustion had taken hold.

"I'm sorry to wake you. I can come back later if you'd like," Jyn's visitor said.

Her voice was female, but strong and dignified. As the blur of Jyn's vision sharpened, she could make out soft features and a regal bearing.

"No, it's fine… I'm fine," Jyn said, finally convincing her body to stay propped up.

"I'm glad to hear it. I've been wanting to speak with you since we received your distress signal, but I was delayed when you arrived."

Now that she got a good look at her, Jyn realized that she had seen her visitor before in news bulletins across the galaxy. "Senator Organa?" she asked.

Organa gave a sad smile. "Not 'Senator' anymore. The Emperor dissolved the senate. One of the many things that you missed while in captivity. If you'd like, I can help bring you up to speed." She looked around. "Maybe somewhere a little more inviting?"

"Yeah, that would probably be good," Jyn said.

Organa offered Jyn a hand, which she took and used to steady herself as she rose to her feet. In the clothes that the medical staff had provided, Jyn felt like she was touring the ship in her pajamas, a feeling magnified by the princess's elegant gown. They twisted through the corridors before coming to a stop in what looked like an observation room. It was deserted, and dark save for the light of the millions of stars outside the viewport.

Following Organa's lead, Jyn sat on what looked like a long couch. She looked out the viewport, trying to count the stars like she had as a child, but there was no solace in it. No matter how Jyn tried, her mind kept wandering back to Cassian. He was out there somewhere, on Vader's ship orbiting one of those stars maybe. If Jyn could convince Princess Leia to help her, the rest of the Alliance would surely follow.

"You know, I was an Imperial prisoner too. At the same time you were, in fact," the Princess said softly.

"They took a senator hostage?" Jyn asked in disbelief.

"Like I told you—not a senator anymore. But yes, they did. Admiral Raddus's ship was disabled by the Empire after you transmitted the plans. By coincidence—or maybe by the Force—the plans made their way to me. I escaped the battle, but it didn't take long for the Empire to track me down. I hid the plans away before they took me."

Jyn listened closely as Organa recounted everything that had transpired over the past week and a half—how the Death Star plans had been discovered by a moisture farmer, and how he and Jyn's rescue crew had teamed up to save Organa and the Rebellion. It made Jyn's own story feel practically tame by comparison, but all she cared about was the last thing Organa told her.

"So they did it? They destroyed the Death Star?" Jyn asked.

"Yes. The weakness your father left in the design worked exactly as planned."

For a moment, Jyn was overtaken by happiness. She grinned widely as tears and laughter escaped in equal measure. Her father had done it. _They_ had done it. All of the sacrifices had _meant_ something. But then Jyn remembered the sacrifices that were still being made, and the thought sobered her immediately.

"Sen—er, Princess Or—"

"Just Leia is fine," Leia said with an amused smile.

"Thank you, really, for telling me all of this. It's… it makes a difference, knowing that my father will be remembered as the man who helped bring down the Death Star instead of the one who created it." Jyn took a deep breath. "But, there's something I need to ask you. A favor. Not for me, but someone else."

Leia's face darkened, much as it had when she described the destruction of Alderaan. "I read General Draven's report before I came to visit. Is this about Captain Andor?"

"Yes. Please, just listen to me. That's all I'm asking."

Leia nodded, so Jyn explained everything to her. How Cassian had saved her life, and how without him the Death Star would still exist. Jyn was never the best with words, but she tried to convey to Leia how much she owed Cassian, and how it would be a betrayal for her not to go back for him. Leia nodded as Jyn spoke, but a frown remained fixed on her face. Finally, when Jyn had finished, Leia spoke softly again.

"I'm not going to tell you that I understand how you're feeling. You've gone through more than most of us ever will, and for a cause that you never asked to be a part of. I will tell you that I _want_ to help you. I want nothing more than to bring Captain Andor back to the Rebellion." Leia looked out at the stars, much as Jyn had when they entered. "But, I don't think that I _can_ help you. You said yourself that you wouldn't know where to start looking, and there's no guarantee that Captain Andor is still on Vader's flagship."

At least Leia hadn't insinuated that Cassian was probably dead like Draven had. Still, Jyn was back to square one, and despair was threatening to overwhelm her. She tried to think of a response, anything that might convince Leia even a little bit, but her mind was blank. She needed rest, and nourishment, and… she needed to bring Cassian back.

"I do have a proposition for you," Leia said, catching Jyn's attention. "I know that you never wanted to be part of the Alliance, and I know that you can't be pleased with us right now. But I wanted to offer you the chance to keep being a part of the rebellion. You've seen what the Empire is capable of, and you know that they have to be stopped… We may have destroyed the Death Star, but the Rebellion is more fragile now than ever. The Emperor has finally taken notice of us, and the Empire intends to hunt us down until there's nobody left to resist them."

Leia held up a hand to prevent Jyn from interrupting.

"I understand that you want to save Captain Andor, and I've told you that we can't help you with that right now… but the Alliance has a vast network of intelligence operatives throughout the galaxy, including some within the Empire. You have a much better chance of finding Captain Andor if you have our resources. And I can promise you this: if you _do_ find him, and you have a chance to save him, I'll give you whatever you need."

"I'm…" Jyn wasn't sure what she was. Everything that Leia had said was true, but doing anything other than setting off to find Cassian now would feel wrong.

"Think about it," Leia said, rising to her feet. "I'll take you back to the medbay now if you'd like."

* * *

No one had laid a finger on Cassian since the stormtroopers dragged him out of the cockpit of the split-ship. Somehow that was even more ominous than when he had been subjected to beatings every day. At least then he had known what to expect, now… there was just waiting and apprehension. Every step he heard echoing down the durasteel corridor outside could be the sound of his executioner approaching.

Cassian wasn't afraid to die. In fact, for the first time he could remember, he felt like he was at peace, as though he was "one with the Force," as Chirrut said. Meeting Jyn and following her to Scarif, finding the Death Star plans and saving her life… all of it felt like a balancing of the scales. He had finally done something truly _good_. Jyn had given him a clear purpose again and allowed him to fulfill it. For that, he'd die a hundred times over to save her life. The thought of dying wasn't what disturbed him, it was everything that came between now and then that had Cassian on edge.

As if on cue, Cassian heard footsteps outside. They were different from the clicks of a stormtrooper or the practiced rhythm of an officer. Instead, they were heavy, thudding down the corridor and filling Cassian with dread. He found himself hoping that they would pass him by, but those hopes were dashed when the footfalls halted outside, and the door slid open.

No amount of anticipation would have prepared Cassian for what was on the other side.

Darth Vader.

Cassian had seen holos of Vader before, but they didn't do the Emperor's servant justice. They couldn't capture the aura of fear that surrounded Vader, or the way that you found only your own fearful reflection in his eyepieces, or the deep rattling mechanical breaths that made Cassian question if there was a man behind the mask at all. Face-to-face with Vader, Cassian was gripped by fear that felt uncontrollable. A fear more intense than any he had felt since he was a child.

"Captain Andor," Vader ground out. His breathing continued unabated as he spoke. "You've proven yourself to be quite a nuisance to the Empire."

"Good," Cassian said, projecting confidence that he didn't feel in the slightest. "The Empire should—"

Abruptly, Cassian found it impossible to draw breath, as though his windpipe had been sealed shut. His hands rose to his throat instinctively, and his eyes fell on Vader's outstretched hand, which had been turned into a constricting fist.

"I did not come here to listen to your bravado," Vader said. He didn't release his grip. "Your actions on Scarif and beyond have drawn my attention. My inferiors mean to execute you, but the Empire needs capable soldiers, and you have proven yourself most capable."

Finally, the pressure around Cassian's throat was released. He fell to the floor, gasping for air. He looked up and found himself kneeling at Vader's feet. The thought of it was enough for Cassian to force himself to regain his feet. He looked into Vader's mask and felt the hope for the rebellion and the peace that Jyn had given him come flooding back.

"I would rather die than join the Empire," Cassian said.

Vader didn't move.

The feeling of constriction returned, but now it was Cassian's whole body that was being bound. He tried to shout, but he couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything to resist. Vader reached a gloved hand toward Cassian, and pain began to fill his head immediately.

"I assure you; I can be quite persuasive, Captain Andor."

* * *

After a week of observation—during which the doctors thankfully allowed her free reign of the ship—Jyn was released from Alliance care. The only problem was that she had no idea where to go, or what to do. The more she thought things over, the more that Leia's offer made sense, but Jyn couldn't shake the feeling that she was leaving Cassian to the Empire… worse, she couldn't shake the doubts that had begun to creep in. It was as though Draven had taken up permanent residence in her head, reminding her that Cassian was likely dead already, pointing out how many Alliance members had been killed in captivity, and how few of the rest had ever been heard from again.

All of it was enough to drive Jyn crazy, and being completely out of the loop only made things harder. The Alliance refused to share any intelligence with her as long as she remained a "civilian". Draven's orders, if Jyn had to guess. Since Leia had brought her up to speed, Jyn hadn't learned anything. She was burning with questions about the aftermath of Scarif, and the Death Star's destruction, and how many people had made it off of Alderaan, if any. But none of those questions were finding answers. The most Jyn had was snippets of conversation from rebels in the ship's corridors, but without any context, those only exacerbated Jyn's frustration.

It was so tempting to just accept Leia's offer and begin using the Alliance's information network to search for Cassian immediately. But the Alliance wouldn't accept something for nothing. She would have to work for them, do whatever they asked, be it a mission or something as simple as moving supplies, and all of the time Jyn spent doing that was time taken away from finding Cassian… if he was still out there to be found.

Back-and-forth she went. Until finally someone stopped her, literally and figuratively.

Jyn felt someone tugging at her sleeve from behind. She turned and found her shirt in the grasp of a droid. In its other hand was a datapad and a sack of some kind.

"Jyn Erso?" the droid's mechanical voice asked.

It was a model Jyn wasn't familiar with, bipedal and roughly humanoid like a protocol droid, but blockier than most designs.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"I'm DG-35, the quartermaster for this ship," it said with what sounded like a hint of pride.

"Congratulations," Jyn said, amused in spite of everything.

"I was one of three quartermasters at the Alliance base on Yavin 4, and as such, I was also given Captain Cassian Andor's possessions and final requests in the event of his death."

"Cassian isn't dead," Jyn said, but the droid carried on, heedless of her complaints.

"Captain Andor has no known next-of-kin, and all recipients of possessions in his final wishes perished on Scarif or some time beforehand. As such, his possessions were granted to Alliance command, and subsequently redirected to you."

"Redirected to me? By who?" Jyn asked.

"By whom, rather," the droid corrected.

Jyn resisted the urge to rip out its circuits one-by-one.

"By _whom_?" she asked again.

"The order was given by Princess Leia Organa. Will you accept Captain Andor's possessions?"

"I… Yeah, I'll take them." _If only to give them back to Cassian when he's been rescued._

The droid made a note on his datapad, then offered the sack to Jyn. She accepted it while the droid continued past her down the corridor, leaving Jyn feeling somehow more confused than she had been previously. She hurried back to the "room" that the Alliance had temporarily provided her—a glorified closet that came with a roommate—and plopped down on her bunk. Luckily, the Sullistan she shared quarters with was out. Otherwise, she wouldn't have felt comfortable going through Cassian's possessions.

Jyn pulled the drawstring on the bag and let its contents spill out onto the bunk. There wasn't much to see: an old blaster, what looked like a charm necklace, and a datapad. Jyn picked up the blaster and turned it over. It was unloaded, but the safety and the trigger still had good, responsive action. She had never seen Cassian use it, but it looked as though it had been cared for well. Jyn suspected that it would still fire just fine if needed.

The necklace—or at least Jyn thought it was a necklace—was strange. It was small, around the size of her Kyber crystal, but highly detailed. Jyn could tell that it was handmade when she held it up to her eye. The charm was made of four hard wooden chunks that were bound together by some sort of fiber string. Woven into the string was what looked like a letter, or maybe a pictogram, but it wasn't a symbol that Jyn recognized. A much tougher leather-like string made a loop that Jyn could easily slip over her head. The charm came to rest on her chest. Its presence felt familiar and comforting in the absence of her crystal. After a moment, Jyn removed the necklace and set it aside gently. She grabbed the datapad and flicked the power on.

The pad only had one file on it that Jyn could find. A recording. She stared at the filename for a long time, trying to decide if she should open it or not. Finally, she half turned away and clicked it.

Immediately, Cassian's face filled the screen. Jyn turned back to take in the image. He looked younger, but that was probably because he was clean-shaven. The date on the file put the recording at less than a year old. It was an old-fashioned video message, not a hologram like her father had sent, but Jyn found the same emotions filling her now as she had when she saw her father on Jed-ha.

"My name is Cassian Andor, and this is my final transmission." Cassian said. His tone was matter-of-fact, as though he had been ordered to make the message by some superior. "If you're watching this… whoever you are, it's because I've been killed in action."

 _You haven't_. Jyn wanted to tell him. _We'll come get you._

"If I died for the Rebellion, then know that I died happily. I have never been…"

Abruptly, the Cassian on the screen stopped talking. Jyn's brow furrowed as she focused on his face, and a jolt ran through her as he looked right at the recorder—right at _her_.

"I wrote something for this, but I was never good at that kind of thing." Cassian almost smiled. "I don't even know who this is supposed to be for, but whoever you are, thanks for caring about me enough to watch this."

Jyn felt a lump rise in her throat. She wanted to be able to reach out and touch Cassian, to let her know that she cared more than he knew.

"I've been fighting practically my whole life, and I never even thought that I'd get this far, so really, I'm lucky… lucky because I _got_ to fight. I wrote that I died happy. I don't know if that's true, but I know that if I had the chance, I would do all of this again. I'd still join the Rebellion, even if I knew I was going to die, because the Empire _has_ to be stopped. I don't know who I'm talking to, or how you're feeling, or what the galaxy even looks like right now, but I know that you have to keep fighting. Don't give up, ever, until the Empire is gone."

Cassian was staring so intensely that Jyn felt like he could actually see her. It gave her chills.

"That's what I want my final transmission to be: don't stop fighting." He glanced down, then turned his eyes back to the camera. "End of transmission."

Jyn deflated back onto her bunk. She sat there for a long time, staring at the ceiling. Then she grabbed the datapad and replayed the message. When it was over, she started it again. Every time it ended, the last bit kept ringing in her head.

 _Don't stop fighting_.

She wanted to sit there and watch the transmission over and over, or to drop everything and go off on a wild hunt for Cassian, but he wouldn't have wanted that. Everyone on Rogue One had gone to Scarif and died because they all believed in one thing: the Empire had to be stopped. The Death Star might be gone, but the Empire was as strong as ever. From the snippets of conversation Jyn had caught, it sounded like they were massing strength for a major push against the Alliance. The rebellion would need all it could get if it was going to survive. Leia had said as much to Jyn when they spoke, but it wasn't until now that it finally sunk in.

Jyn felt like something inside of her was being ripped in half. She knew what she had to do, as much as she hated it. Cassian wanted Jyn to keep fighting, so she would. She jumped off of her bunk and moved to the comm terminal on the wall. Leia's frequency was busy, so she left a message. Three words.

"I'll do it."

* * *

 **(A/N):** As always, thanks for reading.


End file.
